The Story of The TurtleDuck Shell
by Ziggurat Rolsovitch
Summary: Zuko and Katara finally have a conversation about that Turtle-Duck shell he keeps with him. K  for kissing. Run kids! RUN!


**Disclaimer; **

Disclaimer; What do you think? No, I do not own this darn show. If I did There would be more ZukoxKatara and AangxToph, but obviously that isn't how it turned out… grrrr….

This whole idea for this story actual came from the title. Ironic, huh?

" 'Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame.  
Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it.' " Song of Songs. The Holy Bible

Without further ado I give you 'The Story of The Turtle-Duck Shell.' Just remember… have fun reading.

XxXxX

The dark gray clouds rolled in and thunder rumbled in the distance. The trees danced gentle in the warm summer breeze and the lakes around the land moved, unclaimed and ready for the oncoming storm.

All the animals moved to take shelter, for the smell of rain waited in the air, serving as a warning for all to take cover.

The two benders, Fire and Water sat on the edge of the balcony in the south wing of the palace on the Fire Nation. The Fire bender shifted one of his legs that were under him to hang off the edge of the stone railing. She sat on the opposite side of him with her back against one of the pillars holding up the overhang  
Yet, still they sat in peaceful silence together, despite the slight shuffle of his pants against the rough stone as he moved his leg.

Slowly the rain began and the thunders growls were closer then before. The rain washed everything away and soaked everything outside beyond the overhang.

"So you said you would tell me some other time. Is now a good time?" Katara asked.

He inhaled deeply, smelling the scent of rain and wet stone as the rain poured somewhat harshly now. He realized she had asked him a question.

"My Mother," Zuko began.

"What?"

"My Mother and I would sit together at the pound and feed the turtle-ducks. That's why I have the shell still… one of the older ones passed away and I wanted something to remember her by."

"Your Mother or the pet?"

"A little of both I suppose," He replied as he leaned his back against the pillar behind him and sighed contently as he watched the rain. The wind briefly blew some of the misty rain onto the balcony and into his face, but he didn't mind. It was refreshing. "It's… strange I know, but… I feel like she's still with me."

"Maybe she is," Katara whispered softly.

"Yeah, maybe."

"I know I already said it, but I still wanted to tell you thanks for… you know… saving me. You shouldn't have though. You know…. you could have been killed."

She watched his shoulders shake slightly with laughter. She didn't think him dying was at all funny. She cared too much about him.

"I think it's unchivalrous to let a lady get hurt when I can do something about it." He glanced at her out of the corner of his good eye and smiled. "Are you afraid of storms, Katara?"

"No," She replied assuredly. "Waterbender, remember?"

"Yes, of course," He said, still smiling. It slowly faded to a satisfied half smile.

"Are you afraid, Zuko?"

"I use to be, but my Mother would always tell me not to be afraid. She even told me God was bowling and every time you heard thunder was him getting a strike." He chuckled in remembrance. "It's funny… we always think our parents are invincible. I always felt so safe crawling into my Mother's bed after getting scared because of a storm."

"Yeah. One of the fondest memories, huh? I've done that after having a nightmare. It's like the safest place in the world when we're kids and when we grow up we realize that there are more things to worry about then the monster under the bed."

"Monster under the bed?"

"Sokka."

He opened his mouth in a silent "ah" of understanding.

"I think… it was always the other way around. My younger sister was the one telling me the scary stories." He smirked. "Except the monster was in the closet… and under the bed." He paused. "And in the bathroom. And… sitting in the tree outside of my bedroom window. And one somewhere lurking the halls…"

Katara couldn't help the giggle that escaped her and he sighed and rolled his eyes, but smiled none-the-less.

"Zuko… your sister is evil."

"I know."

He reached over and grasped her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. She glanced down briefly at his hand, but she didn't pulled away.

"What about you? You never told your sister scary stories?" She asked.

"My sister was too busy beating me up and making me walk the plank," He smirked. "I swear sometimes that my sister is absolutely insane."

"Wasn't that proven?"

"Eh… more or less. It was just a brake down. She's… pretty much back to normal now."

"So what do you think about everything? Fire Lord and all that business."

"Uncle is a big help. I wouldn't have made it a day without his help." He took another deep breath, smelling the scent of the cherry blossom trees. She smiled as she grabbed her cup of tea and took a sip.  
"Careful, Uncle might smell that and come running."

"It's too bad Aang ran off with Mai, huh?" She asked unsure if this would take him from his good mood, but he shrugged and smirked.

"Yeah, too bad."

"Yeah."

"Yup, they left us here by ourselves."

"Uh-huh."

She moved to sit closer to him and he set a hand on the rail to steady himself, not really worried about falling off. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, not really thinking it through. She pulled back slightly and met his eyes.

"Zuko…"

"You're so… beautiful." She looked away at his words, but he caught her chin and kissed her again. "I mean it."

"I think… you're one of the most handsome men I've ever met."

"Really?" He asked, dumbfounded. "Even with the… scar?"

She was silent for a moment as she set her hand on his jaw and smiled slightly.

"What scar?" She asked, surly as if he didn't have one. "It's part of who you are. And it doesn't take away from the way you look at all. Besides… you'd be too pretty without it."

He laughed quietly. And she moved to sit in fron of him. He inched back slight to give them room and she sat with her back against his chest. He sighed and rested his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her.

"Mmm… didn't see that one coming." He commented.

"Yes, you did," She replied dryly.

"I know." He breathed in softly, and now not only was the smell of the rain and wet stone and Cherry blossoms in the air, but the subtle smell of whatever flowery fragrance was in her hair. Yeah… he could get use to this, he thought as the rain picked up a little. "Too bad about, those two, huh?"

"Yeah, too bad."

XxXxX

The End

Thanks for reading, leave a review.

A/N now… as you can see… they weren't 'really' sad about Aang running away with Mai and don't flame me for that, because I just needed an excuse for them to be able to be together without trouble. And I could care less who Aang goes with as long as it's not Katara, although I do favor him going with Toph. And I don't really give a damn about Mai because… well… she's annoying.


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